U.S. Gold
and publisher | foundation = 1984 (as publishing arm of ) | location = , | industry = Publishing Computer Games | revenue = | num_employees = | key_people = (founder) | products = Computer Games | closure = April 1996 acquired by Eidos when Eidos acquired Plc | homepage = |}} U.S. Gold was a computer and video game publisher and developer from the early 1980s through the mid-1990s, producing and distributing numerous titles on a variety of , and platforms. It distributed at least two games based on Fighting Fantasy books. History U.S. Gold was founded in Birmingham in 1984 by as the publishing division of , a computer game distribution company he founded in 1983. Their primary purpose was to publish popular American and Commodore 64 games in the UK and and later convert them to other popular 8-bit formats in the European market, such as the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC. This business plan proved to be an instant success, prompting U.S. Gold to expand by acquiring smaller developers and seeking out licences that they could commercialise. The publisher continued to expand their operation well into the 1990s. However, a number of their more lucrative licensing deals, particularly one with (formerly ), fell through, threatening to affect their income. In order to help consolidate their finances, they joined forces with UK software distributor CentreSoft to form the Plc Group. Internal game development studios owned by U.S. Gold were the internally formed and acquired . The three-way partnership at the heart of CentreGold (U.S. Gold, Core Design (developer of ) and CentreSoft) didn't last long, however, as the group was acquired by Eidos Interactive in April 1996. Eidos sold off CentreSoft and maintained Core Design as a developer but decided to discontinue the U.S. Gold brand. was sold back to U.S. Gold founder Geoff Brown and became the keystone for his new development venture (GBH). The last retail game to bear the U.S. Gold logo was Olympic Games: Atlanta 1996, released in June 1996 for the Sony PlayStation, , and . The remaining U.S. Gold games awaiting publication at the time of their acquisition by Eidos were released in August 1996 with the exception of Dream Team Basketball. Dream Team Basketball was to be released on the Sony PlayStation but was cancelled. U.S. Gold Licences Perhaps the three most well known licences that U.S. Gold had were: * * * ''Fighting Fantasy'' U.S. Gold's association with Fighting Fantasy was purely as a distributor of games developed by AdventureSoft. AdventureSoft had bought the licence to develop Fighting Fantasy titles in 1985 and had originally intended to release the conversions under the brand Fighting Fantasy Software, to be distributed by the name they were using under licence, "Adventure International (UK)". However, after the bankruptcy of the American firm Adventure International, AdventureSoft began to use their own name explicitly. They broke away from the Fighting Fantasy Software brand, and engaged U.S. Gold as distributors. Their plans to release Temple of Terror and Rebel Planet came to fruition. They also planned, and even advertised a release of a conversion of Sword of the Samurai.This is following an interpretation of a later advert placed in the December 1986 issue of (Issue 62 page 60) and the January 1987 issue of (issue 58 page 90). However, this appears to never have happened. In summary the Fighting Fantasy-based games distributed by US Gold were: *''Rebel Planet'' (1986) *''Temple of Terror'' (1987) and advertised but unreleased: *''Sword of the Samurai'' See Also External Links *[http://www.mobygames.com/company/us-gold-ltd U.S. Gold] profile on *[http://playstationmuseum.com/Games/BETA/BTA-033.htm Dream Team Basketball] review on References Category:FF Computer Game Developers and Publishers